Can I Hold You?
by ana barton
Summary: This is a sort of missing scene after the episode when Anna opens that portal to the book for Yoh and co. and they see Hao. Just a bit of something for my fave couple.


  
  
09 October 2004 

Author's Notes: Occurs at the end of the episode of Shaman King when Anna opens up the portal of sorts that send Yoh, Ren, Ryu, Horo Horo, Faust, and Chocolove into the central and integral part of Asakura Hao's book so they could learn more about their nemesis and how to possibly defeat him, I think. And as a result, they increase their foryoku (spelling??) as well.

One shot. I wanted to add a bit of fluff at the end of this particular episode so I stared at the television long after the show was done, and out came this plot bunny.

Disclaimers: Shaman King does not belong to me.

Pairing: Yoh and Anna

Rating: PG-13

  
  
Shaman King fanfiction

Can I Hold You?

by: ana barton

--Y/A--

"You really have great timing, Anna," Yoh grinned at her.

She inclined her head. "So do you."

--Y/A--

Yoh smiled at her before looking around to their friends and comrades. They were all separating into their own little groups to talk and spend time together. Ren was with his sister and her power spirit, Faust and that girl were off in their own little world, Ryu and Horo Horo were chatting with Tamao and Chocolove, and Manta was with a silent Amidamaru to the side. That left him and Anna relatively alone together.

"I really am grateful you're here," he told her shyly.

"As you should be."

Was it just him or was there a hint of an amused smile on her lips?

"Anna?"

"Nan desu ka?"

He glanced at her uncertainly then to the passage where she set the portal up beforehand. "Anou… Ore wa, uhm… do you…?"

"Spit it out Yoh." She crossed her arms impatiently.

"…I was wondering," he began softly, "if I could hold you for a bit?"

Anna was staring at him for a long time that he started shaking his head and holding out both hands that still held his two swords. "Sou desu…" Yoh chuckled nervously. "Gomen, it was a stupid idea anyway. Ne, how about if we join the others and forget what I said—"

His soul positively froze in terror of what she was going to do to him when Anna stepped up to him and lifted her arms up. Yoh only started breathing normally again when she placed her arms loosely around his waist.

"Arigato." He wrapped his arms around her. A ragged and relieved sigh was wrenched from him, his arm lowering to her waist and pulling her more securely into his arms.

He had been worried earlier when he was inside the portal with his friends. What Hao had shown him was a world full of wonderful possibilities, and as a shaman, he knew he could make those possibilities a reality. But Yoh also knew that he had to strike a balance between those ideals and his own principles to be able to live with himself.

Not to mention that having to live with Anna and her disappointment in him was something he didn't want to contemplate.

Yoh realized he was shivering only when she tightened her hold on him.

"Sumanai…" He made to leave her embrace but Anna gripped his back.

She shook her head. "Daijobu. It's okay…"

"…Are you okay?" he asked softly, worriedly. She had started shuddering in his arms and he pulled her closer to him, dropping both swords to the ground without a second thought.

"I…" she shook her head again and Yoh detected a hint of tears in her breathing. "I was scared," she admitted softly. "First when I didn't know how you were when you came out of the portal and then when those bloody X-Laws attacked you without warning."

"Shh, I'm alright now."

She was outright crying now and the only reason he could tell was that her tears were falling hot and wet on his neck and shoulder. Anna never did sob and cry loudly, ever since he knew her.

Yoh nuzzled his head on the crook of her neck and held her tightly. "I'm alright," he whispered fiercely. "We're both fine. Nothing went wrong. You were brilliant, by the way, love."

She punched him on the side weakly. "I know but…"

"I know, koishii. It's okay."

They stood like that in each other's arms for how many minutes, Yoh didn't know and he could say he didn't particularly care. All he knew was that his fiancée was in distress and he was doing what he could to alleviate that.

Anna released a breath and leaned back a bit from him, not quite meeting his eyes. He didn't totally let go of her, just raised one hand from her waist to her face and helped her wipe the tears off. After that was done, she looked up at him and with a slight smirk, raised her hand to brush the tears he hadn't been aware of shedding from his cheeks.

He looked into her eyes worriedly. "Okay now?"

"Hai," she nodded but didn't move away from him as he thought she would. After all, Anna wasn't known to be much in the way of physical contact with her fiancé, unless it was a well-deserved hit upside the head when he didn't do his chores.

"Anna?"

"Hmm?"

Yoh grinned lopsidedly. "I missed you."

"I'm sure you did," she snorted. "And all the pretty foreign girls you've seen so far were just part of the scenery that you pass by without a thought." Her hands settled on his chest, right above his heart.

He widened his eyes in mock surprise. "Sou ka? You mean those tall things were girls? I didn't notice."

"Funny ha-ha."

They fell to a comfortable silence. Yoh would have been content to hold onto his fiancée indefinitely but his legs and feet were putting up a protest. After all, he'd just gone inside his nemesis's book and he had to prevent himself from getting too attracted to those ideals. That took a lot from a person, shaman or not. Then he had to release this newly increased power of his when those X-Laws attacked. That was unfamiliar and therefore tiring.

The next Shaman King did need his rest.

"Anna?"

"Nani?"

"Do you think we could camp out here, at least for the night?"

She looked at him closely then sighed in a very put upon manner. "I suppose we can, but I expect to have a nice soft bed when we get to Patch Village."

"I'll make sure of it."

"A nice soft sleeping bag tonight wouldn't be remiss either."

Yoh chuckled and hugged her. "Hai hai!"

--Y/A--

In short order, camp was set up and they were all eating and chatting with each other around the fire. Thankfully, no one had said anything or indicated that they were aware of him and Anna being scarce from the group for a period of time. It was sometimes awkward being a teenager who's already engaged… Teenage boys could be brutal in their teasing.

Tamao had prepared dinner and the poor girl couldn't stop blushing whenever Yoh looked at her. He thought it was weird and flattering at the same time, but Yoh was very much aware that he was already with Anna. It wasn't so much as his grandparents had decreed Anna to be a suitable wife for him that he wasn't fighting the engagement, it was the fact that he knew in his heart of hearts that Anna was the girl for him.

Manta told them of their own set of experiences on their way to meet up with Yoh and his friends, and Yoh couldn't help but shoot his fiancée a proud look when Manta mentioned she slapped Hao when they met.

Horo Horo fell on the ground laughing about it. "Imagine that! Anna managed to slip one past the great and mighty Hao!"

"I would have paid a lot of money to have seen that!" Ryu nodded along whole-heartedly.

After a while, eyes started drooping and people yawned a lot more. Ren's sister, Jin, started distributing sleeping bags all around. The night was deepening and they all needed their rest for the travel next day. Chatter slowly died down as Yoh continued sitting by the fire.

"Yoh?"

He looked to Anna. She was situated some ways from the fire by a boulder, affording her some privacy of sorts from the others.

"Hmm?"

"Go to sleep. We have a long way to travel tomorrow."

Yoh grinned at her. "In a bit. I'll take first watch."

"Why don't you let Bason do that?" Ren asked from his place.

The Chinese warrior power spirit appeared in spirit ball form. "Ren-dono is right, Yoh-dono," he said. "You need to rest."

Amidamaru as well as the other power spirits materialized around him. "Go to sleep, Yoh-dono," the samurai spirit reiterated. "We'll watch out for everyone."

Kororo cooed happily and Tokageru nodded. "We don't need to sleep anyway."

"If you're sure…" Yoh stood up.

"Oyasumi nasai, Yoh-dono," Amidamaru smiled gently.

"Oyasumi, minna. Oyasumi, Ren."

The boy turned on his side. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "Just go to sleep already."

Yoh chuckled softly as he looked around his friends and comrades-at-arms. They were an eclectic group, yes, but they'd all grown to be good friends. Faust, he wasn't too sure of, but if Anna says that he's okay, then he'd be cool with that; she was a great judge of character.

Seeing as everyone was asleep and no one was watching (the power spirits had scattered around the perimeter of their camp), Yoh silently made his way over to his fiancée. Anna was on her side in the sleeping bag but the cover was pulled back for him. Wordlessly, he slid into place beside her, his chest to her back, and his arms around her waist. She moved back onto him until she had her head pillowed on his shoulder.

"Comfy?" he asked.

"Bit cold."

Yoh pulled her closer. "Better?"

"Much."

"Good."

Anna was silent after that that he thought she'd fallen asleep already. He was just drifting off when she turned to face him. "Yoh?"

"Hmm?" He opened his eyes slightly and he had to grin at how the dim firelight that reached them made her face glow with an almost ethereal look.

"Amidamaru's troubled," she told him softly. "Talk to him tomorrow, okay?"

He brushed some of her hair from her face. "I will. Let's sleep now."

"Oyasumi, Yoh… anata." She closed her eyes and snuggled into his chest.

He smiled widely as he let sleep claim his consciousness.

--Y/A--

Yoh knew his morning would come a lot earlier today than it usually would, especially considering that he had to be out of Anna's bed before anyone woke up and discovered them. It was one thing for their friends to have their suspicions about the two of them and it was a completely different thing to have said friends actually catch them at doing something as innocent as sleeping in the same sleeping bag.

Heck, there was a definite shortage of sleeping bags considering their numbers had increased since they started on this journey, and seeing as they were the only two people who were engaged and had some license to share the same sleeping space, it would seem like it would have been the logical solution, right? Faust and his girlfriend didn't really count, since she's still a spirit, no matter how corporeal she looked.

And why was he justifying their actions so early…?

Yoh groaned awake, sensing the early sun's light playing at his lids. He opened his eyes; the camp was relatively quiet, bar the sporadic snoring of some people… and Anna was practically on top of him. He sighed softly and brought his arms around her securely.

"Yoh?"

He'd flinched instinctively at the sound of her voice. "Erh, ohayou…?"

"Get moving," Anna said with her eyes still closed. "You have your morning training."

"Hai hai." He grinned mischievously. "But you have to get off me first."

She just grunted and rolled over to her other side, his arms automatically letting her go. "Don't forget to train with Amidamaru."

"I won't." He sat up and stretched. There was barely light in the horizon but he felt completely refreshed. He over and retrieved his two swords before bending and pressing a whisper of a kiss on the side of her head. "I'll be back soon, koishii."

Yoh stood up and walked off. He hadn't gone more than a few steps before Amidamaru materialized beside him and they went off silently for their requisite morning training. It was routine by now, but both of them knew that since Anna was with them again, their training would increase dramatically.

By the time they came back, the rest of the camp was awake and breakfast was sizzling on the fire. After the food was devoured and insults exchanged, Manta got out his laptop, saying, "Let me check the Internet for any information…"

--Y/A--

Additional Author's Notes:

All I know about Shaman King is from the animé; I have yet to see the manga. In addition to that, I'm watching the dubbed version, and it's not dubbed in English so I have to translate what I hear into English.

My characterizations could be a bit off, I acknowledge that, but I am of the mind that even one as relatively unemotional as Anna would need some reassurance that the one person she cared for the most in the world is unharmed.

And as easy-going as Yoh could be, I think he could use a hug as well every now and then from his fiancée.


End file.
